


like the holly-tree

by donquichotte



Category: Murdoch Mysteries
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 04:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3836377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donquichotte/pseuds/donquichotte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If William Murdoch and James Pendrick had met earlier, with less murder and theft.</p>
            </blockquote>





	like the holly-tree

**Author's Note:**

> It struck me in The Tesla Effect and, especially, in Murdoch Air, that these two would actually make rather good friends, if there were less baggage pertaining to accusations of murder and treacherous wives.
> 
> Let it be noted that I am not an historian, and that I did a bare minimum of research for this fic; historical inaccuracies are entirely likely.

“Will, I'd like to introduce Miss Sally Hubbard. Miss Hubbard, this is my good friend and business partner William Murdoch.”

 

“A pleasure, Miss Hubbard,” Will murmured as bent over the hand of the lovely blonde.

 

“Likewise,” she answered, her eyes boldly meeting his. He felt suddenly flustered – there was something appraising, and entirely too knowing, in her gaze – and smiled to hide it.

 

“Miss Hubbard is newly arrived from Buffalo,” her companion explained. “She's looking into some secretarial work, here in Toronto.”

 

“Well, then, Miss Hubbard, I wish you the best of luck. If you'll both excuse me, I see Mr. Parrish about to leave and I hope to have a quick word with him about our latest theory. James, Miss Hubbard.”

 

Relieved to escape the woman's unsettling gaze, Will caught Mr. Parrish just in time to speak with the old engineer, and then joined a group of doctors discussing some of the latest articles out of Germany.

 

Wanting a few moments to himself, Will moved away from the main throng of party guests to lean against the wall and watch the dancers – James and Miss Hubbard among them.

 

It was a strange stroke of Providence that had led him here. He'd been passing through Toronto on his way to the lumber camps when a chance encounter in a library had brought him face to face with a bright young University student. That first meeting had engendered many hours of discussion and a fast friendship that endured through the winter Will spent hauling logs. Come spring and the melting snows, Will had returned to Toronto to find that James had all but dropped out of University to pursue a more entrepreneurial path – and that Will Murdoch had, quite unwittingly, been recruited as his business partner.

 

They'd made an excellent team: James' creativity and his knack for knowing just what the people wanted, his ability to convince investors that there would be lines out the door for an electric soldering iron – all built on a solid foundation in engineering and architecture – would have made him formidable on his own, but it was Will who read – and remembered – articles on every topic from archaeology to zoology and who had a nearly unparalleled ability to take theory from these disparate fields and apply it towards solving a specific problem.

 

Five years into the business, Will had been richer than he could have dreamed as a boy. Now, after more than a decade of partnership, the two of them were some of the most successful men in North America.

 

A familiar voice interrupted his reminiscing.

 

“She's quite something, isn't she?”

 

Turning to smile at his old friend, Will drew his mind back to the present. “Miss Hubbard?” he confirmed, “She is quite lovely, yes.”

 

“Well remember that I saw her first, eh, Will? Not even for you would I give up the attentions of so beautiful and intelligent a woman.”

 

There was little danger of the lady coming between them, Will admitted to himself. Sally Hubbard had the sort of obvious, confident, feminine appeal that had always unsettled him. He tended to prefer women who wielded their beauty with more ... delicacy; if he could compare beauty to a tool, then Miss Hubbard would be wielding a club, rather than a needle.

 

“Nor would I ask you to, James. You are welcome to whatever attentions she offers you.”

 

But not for nothing did James call them old friends, and a frown crossed the other man's face. “Do you dislike her already?”

 

“No, no,” Will protested, “I'm sure she is a charming woman.”

 

“But she displeases you in some way, clearly.”

 

Once again, James had proved too astute for comfort. Will sighs.

 

“She is merely...unsettling. Something in her gaze and her smile makes me nervous.”

 

“Will Murdoch made nervous by a pretty girl. A sad day indeed.” James gave a thoughtful pause. “And yet,” he continued, “you have always been a rather good judge of character.

 

“I think,” James declared with some regret, “that I shall not be seeing much more of Sally Hubbard.”

 

Will chose not to reveal how much that prospect relieved him.

 

(And when, some months later, it comes to light that Sally Hubbard is, in fact, an American confidence woman, James Pendrick shakes his head, smiles, leaves to meet his business partner at their workshop, and never again spares more than a passing thought for that woman with whom he had once shared a dance.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from Emily Brönte's _Love and Friendship_.
> 
> I may turn this into a series of AU one-shots, as inspiration hits.


End file.
